Melatonin decreases the expression of inflammation and apoptosis markers in the lung of a senescence-accelerated mice model

Aging is associated with an increase in oxidative stress and inflammation. The aging lung is particularly affected since it is continuously exposed to environmental oxidants while antioxidant machinery weakens with age. Melatonin, a free radical scavenger, counteracts inflammation and apoptosis in healthy cells from several tissues. Its effects on the aging lung are, however, not yet fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the effect of chronic administration of melatonin on the expression of inflammation markers (TNF-α, IL-1β, NFκB2, HO-1) and apoptosis parameters (BAD, BAX, AIF) in the lung tissue of male senescence-accelerated prone mice (SAMP8). In addition, RNA oxidative damage, as the formation of 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHG), was also evaluated. Young and old animals, aged 2 and 10months respectively, were divided into 4 groups: untreated young, untreated old, old mice treated with 1mg/kg/day melatonin, and old animals treated with 10mg/kg/day melatonin. Untreated young and old male senescence accelerated resistant mice (SAMR1) were used as controls. After 30days of treatment, animals were sacrificed. Lungs were collected and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. mRNA and protein expressions were measured by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Levels of 8-OHG were quantified by ELISA. Mean values were analyzed using ANOVA. Old nontreated SAMP8 animals showed increased (p